


Crosshairs

by TheColdestGinger



Series: Universal Constant [4]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: AU, F/M, This one is a little bit more angsty, and it's all Lawrence's fault, and they're not really dating yet, but the tension is there, spies au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-27
Updated: 2017-03-27
Packaged: 2018-10-11 18:26:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10471263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheColdestGinger/pseuds/TheColdestGinger
Summary: "Artemis! Take the shot!"





	

**Author's Note:**

> Heres another fic that I'm crossposting from FF. So if you've seen it before that's probably why. Thanks for reading! :)

"Artemis! Take the shot!" Wally's voice screamed into her ear. She hated that stupid earpiece. The sniper tried to procrastinate as she fastened her aim on the target.

"Hold on! I don't have it yet." She lied. She could've taken the shot five minutes ago, but something inside of her wouldn't allow her to pull the trigger.

Artemis knew she had to shoot him. It was her job. She'd avoided this moment for years. No one knew who he was to her. They didn't know that she was connected to one of the most notorious mercenaries of the century, and she wanted to keep it that way. A bullet would definitely do the trick, but she couldn't take the damn shot.

She could hear Agent West gritting his teeth on the other side of the line. He was in the getaway car waiting for her to take out their target. "We're running out of time, Agent Crock." His tone was sharp and impatient.

It was their first mission together and Wally made it clear he didn't want her to be on the assignment. Artemis could feel his resentment towards her. If she didn't take the shot soon he'd go back to questioning her loyalty again.

"Be patient," Artemis grunted.

She knew she was running out of time to stall. If her target were any other person she would've dropped them by now. But as much as she wanted to pull the trigger, she couldn't kill her father.

The man in her crosshairs seemed unaware of his imminent demise as he sat at a small table outside a deli. He had half of a club sandwich in front of him and a cup of coffee in his hand. The longer she stared at him the angrier she got. She hated him. She hated what he had made her into. She hated her inability to end his life.

The only things Lawrence Crock had ever given her were half of his genes and a lifetime of baggage. Until now, she had done a good enough job of forgetting her dark past with her father. It was no secret that her father never wanted daughters. He always told Artemis and her older sister that he was working with what he had. He acted like he was doing them a favor by training them for the life. He always made sure to blame for their lack of a Y chromosome.

Artemis hated her father with every fiber of her being. Killing him would make sense. He never practiced restraint during their encounters. However, he acted as if he was the only one with the right to take her life.

The barrel made a soft clicking noise as she loaded the round into chamber. The sound sent chills down her spine, but did not hinder her actions. Artemis took a deep breath before she peered out of her scope one last time to steady her aim. Her finger felt numb as it slowly curled around the trigger. There was a sharp click and the bullet sounded like a whistle as it exited the silencer connected to the end of the barrel.

The sniper immediately turned away and ducked under the ledge of the building she was positioned on. She couldn't bear to watch. Disgust boiled in her chest as her nimble fingers began to disassemble her rifle. Muscle memory took over as she quickly packed her weapon away and policed her brass. Blood pounded in her ears as she tore down ten flights of stairs. She could hear Wally cursing in her earpiece, but ignored him and focused on a clean getaway.

* * *

Agent West pulled up to the curb behind the building seconds before she exited the stairwell. Artemis ignored his glare as she set her rifle in the back seat of the black SUV and slid into shotgun. He took off before she had the chance to close the door.

"What the hell was that!?" he hissed as he accelerated into traffic.

"I missed, Wally. It happens!" She lied again.

He wove in and out of cars. Artemis tensed and held on to one of the handles. She hated his driving. Wally frowned. "Artemis, you don't miss." He grimaced as if it pained him to admit it.

Artemis tried to return his glare. The mask of emotion she usually wore was crumbling. "Well clearly I did. _Eyes on the road."_

The car lurched to the right as he took a corner too fast. Artemis' body hit the window. "Don't change the subject. Why did you miss a shot that even _I_ could make?"

Artemis cursed under her breath and clung to the ceiling handle like her life depended on it. She kept her steely gaze focused on the traffic in front of the vehicle; she couldn't look him in the eye. She knew her actions were selfish. She let their target go with nothing more than a warning. "Everyone makes mistakes." It was a lame excuse, but she prayed her nincompoop of a partner would buy it.

"That's a load of bullshit and you know it!" Wally scoffed. She could feel glare. Usually it wouldn't bother her, but today it only added to the uneasy feeling in her stomach. For some reason she gave a crap about what that idiot thought of her.

Artemis ran her fingers through her thick blonde ponytail and sighed. Maybe she could play the sympathy card.

"I-I'm sorry."

A vein threatened to burst out of Wally's forehead. " _You're sorry? That's all you can say? You're sorry?_ You just threw six months worth of work down the toilet _and_ let one of the most infamous mercenaries on the CIA's wanted list get away, and all you can say is that you're sorry?"

Artemis didn't reply. She could feel the tension fill the small space as silence overtook the SUV. She could feel Agent West's anger build. He was ticking like a time bomb.

"Goddammit, Artemis!" He exploded. "You had one job! _One. Fucking. Target_. And you blew it! You fucked up the easiest possible mission you could have had! It was a fool-proof assignment!"

Artemis's eyes flashed with anger. "Wally! Will you give it a rest? You make mistakes too!"

His face was as red as his hair. " _I_ don't let targets go. Especially not high profile targets like the Sportsmaster!" He spat the words out like they left a bad taste in his mouth.

She gritted her teeth and struggled to maintain her cool. "I didn't try to miss!"

"That's a load of bull!" he bellowed. "You've been lying this whole time! As far as I can tell, you've never told truth!"

"Now you're questioning my loyalty?" she shrieked. Artemis had fought tooth and nail to get to where she was. She was tired of her allegiances being questioned.

His eyes narrowed as they glanced at her. "You missed on purpose!" he hissed. "There's gotta be a reason for that."

Artemis turned to the window again and bit her tongue. She couldn't let her anger get the best of her. "I am not on his side!" she scoffed at his accusation.

Wally growled. "Then why? Why did you miss, _Agent Crock_? Why did you—"

"BECAUSE HE'S MY FATHER!" She roared without thinking.

Wally's mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. The blood had drained from his face and his eyes were wide with shock. He suddenly became more interested in the road than their conversation. The car fell silent in the wake of her outburst.

Her anger faded quickly and she let out a resigned sigh. "I'm truly sorry I let him go, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't kill him."

Wally's eyes were now glued traffic. It was clear that he was very uncomfortable and somewhat upset. When he did glance over at her he stared at her like she had grown a second head. "Oh," was all he could manage to say.

The air was tense and Wally's driving seemed to calm down as they hit the toll road. Neither agent spoke for the next five minutes.

* * *

"Why did you take the mission?" Wally asked quietly a little while later. "If you didn't want to kill your….Father, then why did you come?"

Artemis looked away from the window. "When I signed on to this assignment it was a seek and detain mission." She chewed on her lip as she searched for the right words. "I know it was selfish, but I wanted to be the one to bring that bastard in. I wanted to lay my demons to rest and this was my chance. It would be the best way. I know him better than any of you. I know what he's truly capable of."

Wally nodded. He understood her reasoning. "You just didn't anticipate the change in the mission."

"Exactly. I never thought they'd actually put out a kill order. There isn't a fiber of my being that doesn't hate that man. And as much as I want him dead, I can't do the deed myself."

"That's reasonable." Wally couldn't imagine the situation she was put in.

"I'm sorry for ruining the mission," She whispered.

"No, no, it's okay." Wally started to reach out to give her a reassuring pat on her shoulder, but then settled for awkwardly placing his arm on the top of her seat. He really didn't know how to react in this kind of situation.

"Thanks."

Artemis stared out the window and watched as the city faded into the distance, giving way the plain landscape that bordered the interstate.

* * *

Silence plagued the vehicle for about fifteen minutes before Wally could not stand it anymore.

"So this is what you've been hiding this whole time?" It was a dumb question, but he had no idea what else to say.

"Yeah."

She wouldn't look at him. It was odd, usually Artemis was very confrontational and aggressive, but it was clear that she was very protective of her past. Wally had a feeling that he had only seen the tip of the iceberg, but she seemed to trust him enough to tell him. "Y'know I think we should keep this between us for now."

Artemis looked up from the window. She was quite surprised. "Thanks. You don't have to…"

"No, it's fine." He smiled in an effort to lighten the mood. "So you've never missed?"

She shook her head. "It's been a very long time since I've missed my target."

"That's what I thought."

Wally had a million questions for his partner, but knew now was not the time. In the past twenty minutes he had learned more about Agent Crock than he had In the past three years.

"Who knows?" he mused.

Artemis furrowed her brow. "Who knows about what?"

"About your father?" It was a bold move for the agent. Wally didn't expect an answer from his partner.

Artemis remained quiet for a minute. "Ollie, Dinah and Bruce know. I'm sure a few of the senior agents are aware of it too."

"I see." There was not much more Wally could say that wouldn't put him in dangerous waters.

* * *

Their conversation quickly died and the car returned to silence. Wally watched the cars pass by as they headed back towards Langley.

Artemis was uncharacteristically quiet.

"Wally?"

"Yeah?"

Artemis smiled slightly. "Thank you for doing this. Truce?"

Wally grinned. Starting over was a good plan. He thought she would never ask. "That sound's nice."

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and Comments are always appreciated. Thanks for reading! :)


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